1.††† To report back
the results of the pre-consultation phase on the proposed Easter Sunday Shop
Trading Policy and seek Councilís direction whether it wishes to proceed with
the development of such a policy, or not.††

Recommendations

It is recommended that the
Committee recommends that Council:

(i)††††† notes the report on Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy that
includesresults of a
pre-consultation phase; and

(ii)†††† either:

a)†† agrees to develop an Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy by
consulting on the Summary of Information, Statement of Proposal, and draft
Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy (subject to any changes requested by the
Committee)† attached as Appendix 1 to the report, by means of the special
consultative procedure; OR

b)†† agrees to
not take any further action and therefore not develop an Easter Sunday Shop
Trading Policy at this time; and

(iii)†††††† if needed in connection with (ii) above appoint a subcommittee to
hear submissions and make recommendations to Council on the direction and
content of an Easter Sunday Shop Trading Policy.

Background

2.†††††† There are
currently three and a half restricted trading days in New Zealand Ė Good
Friday, Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and Anzac Day until 1.00pm.† There has
been national debate for a number of years now around whether Easter Sunday
trading should be permitted.

3.†††††† In 2016 the
government amended the Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 to give territorial
authorities the discretion as to whether or not to adopt a policy to permit
shops to open on Easter Sundays.† Such a policy can be developed which:

(a)†††† Determines whether to allow shop trading on Easter Sunday.

(b)†††† Determines whether to allow shop trading on Easter Sunday across the
entire district or in certain areas.

4.†††††† Such a policy cannot:

(a)†††† Permit shops to
open only for some purposes; or

(b)†††† Permit only some
types of shop to open; or

(c)†††† Specify times at
which shops may or may not open; or

(d)†††† Include any
other conditions as to the circumstances in which shops in the area may open.

5.†††††† Currently most
shops in Hutt City cannot open on Easter Sunday, with the exception of dairies,
service stations, fast food outlets, bars, restaurants and cafes.

6.†††††† The Shop
Trading Hours Act 2016 requires employers to provide their employees with
written notice of their right to refuse to work on Easter Sunday.† The notice can
be provided in the period between eight weeks and four weeks before Easter
Sunday.† Employees also have this notice period to notify their employers of
their refusal to work on Easter Sunday.† The Act also allows workers to refuse
to work on Easter Sunday without a reason; and to bring a personal grievance
against an employer who compels them to work or who treats them adversely
because of their refusal to work.

7.†††††† Council would
not be responsible for enforcement of the Policy.† Enforcement of breaches of
the Shop Trading Hours Act 2016 remains with the Ministry for Business
Innovation and Employment.

8.†††††† A Policy must
be reviewed no later than every five years from the date of adoption.

Discussion

9.†††††† A
pre-consultation phase has been undertaken.† This has involved surveying some
key stakeholders to obtain their feedback on Easter Sunday trading.† Appendix 1
to the report contains a summary of the survey results.

10.†††† This survey was
sent to retail and hospitality members of the Chamber of Commerce, Queensgate,
Progressive Enterprises and Food stuffs, Jackson Street Programme, Ministers
Association, churches, Newslist Subscribers, Te Atiawa and Ngati Toa.

11.†††† People were
asked:

(a)† whether they supported Easter Sunday trading

(b)† if they owned a shop, whether they would want to trade in Easter
Sunday

(c)† if an Easter trading policy were to be established for Lower Hutt,
should shops be permitted to trade within all areas or only some areas of the
city?

12.†††† One hundred and
thirteen (113) made submissions. The majority of submitters did not support
Easter Sunday trading. Those that did support it generally felt it should be no
different to other weekends; those that did not support felt that it was
important to keep this time as family time and that it wasnít financially
viable to open for one day.

13.†††† A majority of
the respondents who own a business (61%) didnít want to trade on Easter Sunday
for a variety of reasons.† Respondents felt that if there was to be an Easter
Sunday Trading policy then it should apply to all areas of the city.

14.†††† Attached as
Appendix 1 to the report is the Statement of Proposal which contains a summary
of the survey results.

Options

15.†††† There are two
options:

a)†† To agree to
proceed with the development of a policy and allow shops to open in the whole
of the district as outlined in the attached draft Statement of Proposal or in
specific areas within the district;

b)†† To not adopt a
policy (in which case most shops must remain closed on Easter Sunday).

Consultation

16.†††† A
pre-consultation phase has been undertaken to help inform Council of community
views concerning the development of such a policy.† Refer to paragraphs 9 - 11
above.

17.†††† If Council
wishes to proceed with the development of this policy the Special Consultative
Procedure will need to be undertaken.

Legal
Considerations

18.†††† Section 5A (1)
Shop Trading Hours Act 1990 provides the Council with the discretion to
determine if it wishes to establish an Easter Shop Trading Policy or not.† In
developing such a policy Council needs to determine if such a policy applies to
the whole of the district or any part or parts of the district.†

Financial
Considerations

19.†††† There are no
financial considerations.

Other
Considerations

20.†††† In making this
recommendation, officers have given careful consideration to the purpose of
local government in section 10 of the Local Government Act 2002. Officers
believe that this recommendation falls within the purpose of the local
government in that it meets the current and future needs of the community.

21.†††† At the time this
report was being prepared nationally, some councils consulted and adopted a
policy in time for April 2017.†† Some councils held informal surveys to decide
on a formal consultation for 2018 onwards.† Some councils are still undecided.†
In the Wellington region, the three Wairarapa councils adopted policies to
open.† Porirua City Council has decided to not adopt a policy which means no
Easter Sunday trading; Upper Hutt City Council will review this matter following
Easter 2017; Kapiti are not pursuing this at this stage but will watch
developments elsewhere.